Unlike Mt Chemo or the Surgery Forest, the Stepping Stones of Nuke doen't seem to be prompting me to write much.  I think there are many reasons for this, not least that it would be VERY boring if I wrote every day about my five minutes of nuking, and also that on the whole there's not a whole lot to say.

One of the things that always amuses me about small sample sizes is how quickly you move through different proportions... when on Tuesday (step 6, dose 5) I hit the one fifth of the way through mark, I was quite pleased.  But then Wednesday (step 7, dose 6) was almost a quarter and tomorrow (step 9, dose 8) is as close to a third as makes no real odds.  To be a third of the way across this river seems a lot further than a fifth, but is only three days.  Well it amuses me.

Side effects?  Well, yes, Robyn for sure, not scarlet but has been getting steadily more erythema since dose 1, no great surprise given the doses involved. I can see a change in skin texture and also some tiny blisters starting to appear.  For the first few days I experienced a bit of acid reflux, but that has now settled down again.  I tend to find that as I finish being zapped I feel slightly queasy, again no great surprise given the doses involved, a bit like mild motion sickness, and have a slightly odd taste in my mouth.  It passes in a couple of hours; drinking plenty of water (great tip from Perpetua) and the odd ginger biscuit works wonders.  Carbonated water seems to work especially well, I'm not sure why.  So far I haven't noticed any loss of energy - though I have ensured I get plenty of exercise which is meant to help overcome it, but I am yawning more than usual!!

As for scar/skin case it's a case of serving two masters, with my lovely artiste of a plastic surgeon insisting I keep my scars glooped with moisturiser and covered with tape whilst the nukers insist on only 'simple' soap and aqueous cream at a push.  So, a new regimen of pleasing the nukers then returning home to jollop on the aqueous gloop and add tapes which are removed and the whole area 'simplified' before the next nuking.  It seems just about possible to please both masters, but a bit of a bind.

The nuking centre waiting room seems a less anxious place than the chemo one, I think because people are there day in, day out, and get to know each other, at least on 'nodding' terms, and that for most people this is just the last little bit before 'freedom'.  The staff are good fun and you can have a joke with them, which helps create a lighter atmosphere.  It probably helps that this is one aspect where I have probably forgotten more of the physics than some of the technicians ever knew.

Anyway, the water is clear (a lovely blue cerenkov glow maybe ;-) ), the steps seem stable and I am walking steadily and purposefully to the far bank.